Moby-Dick

Herman Melville

Chapters 66–73

Chapters 74–81, page 2

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Chapter 74: The Sperm Whale’s Head—
Contrasted View

The two whale heads hanging from the Pequod provide
an opportunity for Ishmael to give a lesson on “practical cetology.”
The sperm whale has a great well of sperm, ivory teeth, a long lower
jaw, and one external spout hole. Ishmael describes the sperm whale
as having “more character” than the right whale, as well as a “pervading dignity”
based on the “mathematical symmetry” of its head. He wonders at
the whale’s small eyes, which are placed on opposite sides of its
head, affording the whale a strange visual perspective. He notes
also that the external portion of the whale’s ear is tiny, comprised
of only a small pinhole.

Chapter 75: The Right Whale’s Head—
Contrasted View

The right whale, on the other hand, Ishmael explains,
has bones in its mouth shaped like Venetian blinds, a huge lower
lip, a tongue, and two external spout holes. He likens the right
whale to a Stoic and the sperm whale to a “Platonian.”

Chapter 76: The Battering-Ram

Ishmael then points out that the blunt, large,
wall-like part of the sperm whale’s head seems to be just a “wad.”
In actuality, inside the thin, sturdy casing is a “mass of tremendous
life.” Ishmael notes that the whale’s head, like many other things
in nature, derives its strength from its flexibility and ability
to be compressed and change shape.

Chapter 77: The Great Heidelburgh Tun

Ishmael continues his survey by noting that the upper
part of a whale’s head has two subdivisions: the case and the junk.
He compares the case to the “Great Heidelburgh Tun,” a famous German wine
vessel of enormous capacity. The case—which contains a reservoir
of highly prized spermaceti, a valuable waxlike substance found
in the oil—is carefully tapped once the whale’s head has been suspended
out of the water. The junk also contains oil, but this oil is trapped
in a honeycomb of tough fibers.

Chapter 78: Cistern and Buckets

Ishmael describes Tashtego’s tapping of the case. The
sperm that it contains is lifted from the whale’s head, which still
dangles alongside the ship, to the deck by a relay of buckets. In
tapping this whale, Tashtego accidentally falls into the case, which
is at least twenty feet deep. In a panic, Daggoo clears the tangled
lines and tries to get a line inside the head to Tashtego, but the
tackle holding the head aloft breaks, and the great mass falls into
the ocean. Queequeg dives in and manages to save Tashtego by cutting
into the slowly sinking head and “delivering” Tashtego as a doctor
would a baby.

Chapter 79: The Prairie

Ishmael applies the nineteenth-century arts of physiognomy
(the art of judging human character from facial features) and phrenology (the
study of the shape of the skull, based on the belief that it reveals character
and mental capacity) to the whale. He considers the whale’s features
and, by means of physiognomic and phrenological analysis, concludes
that the sperm whale’s large, clear brow gives it the dignity of
a god and that its “pyramidical silence” demonstrates its genius.
But Ishmael then abandons this line of analysis, saying that he
isn’t a professional, and dares the reader to decipher the “hieroglyphics”
of the sperm whale’s brow.

Frankly, I find Moby Dick to be a very enigmatic story, but it was required reading for my college degree and I am still trying to understand the importance of this novel.
A man obsessed with a white whale must be a metaphor for man's quest, but it is still puzzling to me.
I am hoping to Spark Notes can consolidate and distill the message, but life always has more pressing matters for me to attend to than deciphering old texts.
Can anyone tell me why this enduring novel is important - in 25 words or less?